Business Daily (Nairobi)
Kui Kinyanjui
28 February 2008
Celtel has announced it will be reviving its Bonga na Bob promotion, which will see call charges on selected tariffs drop to Sh1 during off-peak hours, starting today.
The promotion was initially launched last December, to inspire what the company hoped would be a shift to off-peak calling. While Kenyan callers have traditionally not been receptive to late hour calling offers, Celtel says the offer had seen significant take-up during the festive season.
Offering the Sh1 rate from 11pm to 5am daily and all day on Sundays, the offer is geared towards customers on the company's Pamoja tariff and post-paid customers, who collectively now make up the majority of Celtel's customers. With the offer, Celtel hopes to draw more users to the recently launched Pamoja tariff while rewarding its post-paid customers, who as a group are usually the profitable customers for a telephony firm.
But in the past, competitor Safaricom has down-played off-peak tariffs, saying the market is no yet ready for such a move. "We launched a similar tariff years ago but it simply failed to draw users," said Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph in a previous interview.
Nonetheless, players in the telephony market continue to experiment with the concept, with local loop operator Flashcom taking the concept a notch higher by offering free calls late at night.
To enjoy Bonga na Bob, Celtel pre-paid customers will have to be on the Pamoja Tariff and will register by SMSing the word 'BONGA' to 427. They will need to register for the offer on or before March 31st to enjoy the offer up to 30th April.
Post-paid customers will automatically benefit from the offer and will not need to register. The customers will be charged at the normal rate but an adjustment made accordingly in their next month's bill.
Announcing the new offer, Celtel Kenya's Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Director Clare Ruto said the offer is aimed at rewarding Celtel loyal customers and as well as new Pamoja Tariff customers.
"Customers like to have value for their money. Our loyal customers and new Pamoja Tariff customers can now take advantage of this very special offer," Ms Ruto said.
Pamoja is a new permanent tariff offering rates as low as Sh4 to call three preferred Celtel numbers. The tariff attracts a call set up fee of Sh2.50 applies for each call made.
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